


A Voice In The Stars

by eerian_sadow



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Canon blender, Friendship, Gen, Non-graphic injuries, linguistic shift, non-graphic mentions of violence, tf reverse bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 06:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2258514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After arriving on Earth, Blaster and Rewind discover an unusual communication signal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Voice In The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I played fast and loose with the canon timeline, the way characters arrived on Earth (not that there's a lot of hard canon behind how the season 2 characters got to Earth, but still), when certain characters appeared in the series and a lot of other elements. I tried something different initially, but it didn't work for the story I wanted to tell. Thanks to heavybomb for making such a fun piece to work with, and to the reverse bang mod team for hosting this event!

In the vorns he had spent away from Cybertron, he had gotten very used to hearing voices. Space was full of them, from the long lost pasts of newly technological civilizations to the animated chatter of personal calls between spacefaring races. Some of them were the voices of friends and some the voices of strangers. He heard the voices everywhere he went.

After a while, they became the only reminder that he wasn't alone.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Blaster, Perceptor, welcome to Earth." Optimus Prime's optics narrowed at the corners, indicating the mech was smiling, but he didn't retract his mask or lower his weapon, even after the Decepticons had clearly been routed. Things were definitely more tense on this small planet than the Prime had let his people on Cybertron believe.

"Thank you, Prime," Perceptor left Blaster's side, attention immediately fixed on the ground under their feet. "If I may begin taking samples? I can already see over fifteen microorganisms in this area alone that were previously unknown to Autobot science."

"Don't mind Perceptor." Blaster shook his head at the scientist's one track processor. "He gets intense when he finds something new to study."

"Many of our scientists do the same, when they have the leisure." Optimus nodded. "I'm afraid this is a bad time to take samples, Perceptor. We may have run off Megatron's ground troops, but the Seekers will pass through here soon enough to take the Space Bridge back. You can begin your studies back at base."

"Of course, Prime." Perceptor was clearly unhappy, but willing to listen. 

"I'd like to get communications set up as soon as possible, too, Prime." The communications specialist didn't like just how hard it was for Earth to get in contact with Cybertron. "We need to have a more reliable system in place."

"Of course. Jazz will assign any assistance you need, as soon as you're settled in." The large mech looked away from the new arrivals and to his troops. "Autobots, return to base!"

A black and white mech approached him as the other Autobots began transforming into their alternate modes, smiling brightly. "Prime's forgetting introductions again. I'm Jazz, and we can get on that communications suite as soon as you want."

"Great." Blaster returned the smile. "Perceptor and I don't have mobile alt modes. Think maybe we could get a lift, too?"

"No problem, my mechs. Hop on in."

The slang was odd, but Blaster didn't have any trouble making out the meaning. He let Jazz transform first, then took a step toward the vehicle and initiated his own transformation sequence. His momentum carried him through the black and white mech's open door and he settled comfortably on a padded seat. Perceptor followed a moment later.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He tried not to dwell on how lonely he was, even when he was surrounded by voices. No one wanted to speak with a Cybertronian, no one wanted him in their race's territory and absolutely no one wanted him to land on one of their planets.

Over the vorns, the war had cut him off in so many ways.

He continued to travel, mapping the stars and listening to the voices he could hear.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I don't know how you sent any communications before." Blaster frowned at the pile of melted and broken wires in front of him. "This thing shouldn't even work."

Jazz grinned at him. "What can I say? Wheeljack's great at improvisation."

"There's improvisation and there's impossibility." The red mech frowned again and crawled back under the console. "I'm going to have to take the whole network down to rewire it correctly. The good news is that we'll have reliable interstellar communication afterward."

"What about the phone line?"

"The what?"

"The telephone line." Jazz squirmed his way under the console with Blaster and pointed out an unassuming white cable that was running along the back wall. "It's how the humans keep in contact with us."

"If it runs through Teletraan, it's going to have to go down." Blaster peered around the enclosure, looking for a connection point.

"As I understand the technology, it don't have to connect to the main comm suite. Let me make a couple calls before you take everything down, see if we can't keep our allies' eyes on Megatron and the goon squad."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He wondered if he shouldn't turn back to Cybertron. Surely the war was over by now--it had been hundreds of vorns since he was sent out to attempt to find any allies who would aid them against the Decepticons--and he wasn't needed out in the cold of space anymore. They couldn't _still_ be fighting, could they?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I can't believe he had the security system wired in through the comm station. How did that even make sense to him?"

"Red's Red, my mech. I'm sure he thought it would be a good way to monitor incoming and outgoing communications."

Blaster shook his head and took a drink of his ration. "Maybe, but the way he did it was nuts. One good Decepticon saboteur would have taken all our internal defenses offline along with the comms."

"Not sure his four million year nap did his processor any favors," Jazz confessed. "Some of us--and I'm counting Decepticons too--have a lot more problems now that we did before we went sixty thousand vorns without maintenance."

"I hadn't thought about it that way. But it does explain a lot about Megatron and Starscream now days."

"That it does." The black and white mech nodded. "And a lot of the rest of us. Hope you don't regret transferring here."

"Are you kidding? Have you _heard_ Earth music?"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

As he considered returning to Cybertron, even though he hadn't been ordered to yet, he focused more on the voices around him. There was the usual chatter of the space faring species and the noise of young species just making their way into the universe outside their homeworlds, but there was none of the chatter he'd come to associate with his fellow Autobots and none of the propaganda he'd learned to associate with the Decepticons.

When he listened for Cybertronian voices, there was nothing but a few automated beacons.

He keened in distress.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Blaster, look at this." Rewind turned away from the communications console and toward his host with a frown. 

The red mech left his own project--yet another fried comm board--and crossed the room to the small mech. "What's up?"

"I found a very odd signal, buried underneath an old broadcast originating from Epsilon Eridani. It's faint, and the language is very old."

"How old? And what language?"

"It's Cybertronian, a dialect from Yuss or the surrounding region dating before the beginning of the war."

"Here let me sit." Blaster nudged his symbiote with one hip until Rewind moved over to give him room on the bench that was the current seating arrangement in the comm center. The he looked over the small mech's readings with a frown. "That's definitely a Yuss dialect, with an Autobot code. What are you doing clear out here, my mech?"

"We're going to try to make contact then?"

"Of course we are. I'm not leaving one of our mechs stranded out there all alone."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Attention, unknown Autobot._

Slowly, the call grabbed his attention. It broke through his apathy and depression--the sheer weight of knowing that his people were **_gone_** \--and pulled his processor back into full functioning.

_This is Autobot Blaster of Earth base Ark Prime. Please advise Ark Prime of your designation and mission._

The voice on the other end of the transmission was warm and friendly, speaking in the same dialect of Cybertronian he used but with the refined tones that said he was from Iacon rather than Yuss. Still, it reminded him of home in a good way, and he found himself responding before he had even consciously processed the decision.

_Earth Base Ark Prime, this is Autobot Cosmos on a mission to find and recruit allies to help repel the Decepticon rebels._

There was a long lag between his transmission and the reply, but that didn't bother him. Interstellar communication was a finicky thing at the best of times and unreliable completely at the worst. And his subspace transponder had seen much, much better days...

_Autobot Cosmos, Ark Prime command requests that you hold position and wait for further orders. Optimus Prime wants to speak with you personally when he returns to base._

Optimus Prime? Cosmos resisted the urge to demand an explanation. Clearly a lot more had changed than he realized while he was out among the stars. Instead, he engaged his stabilizing thrusters and set a program to keep him within a hundred meters of his current coordinates. _Acknowledged. Awaiting further orders. Autobot Blaster?_

_Go ahead, Autobot Cosmos._

_Can you just talk to me for a bit? It's been a long, long time since I heard a friendly voice._

_You got it, my mech. What do you want to talk about?_

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Blaster, what do we know about this Cosmos?" 

The communication specialist turned and faced Optimus Prime, trusting that REwind would notify him if any new transmissions came in from the lost mech. "He's from Yuss, he's at least as old as Jazz and Zeta Prime sent him out to try and find new allies right as the war was just getting started. He's been away from Cybertron a long time."

"Yuss." The Prime was quiet for a moment, optics flickering as he accessed information buried deeply ins his processor. "What dialect does he speak?"

"Shepherd's dialect, sir. I get the feeling he's the white cybercat of the clan."

"A military mech from that part of Cybertron would be. Patch me through, but be prepared to translate. The Matrix has access to the Shepherd's dialect, but it may not be fluent."

"No problem, Prime." Blaster turned back to the console and opened the comm channel to Cosmos back up. "Autobot Cosmos, Optimus Prime is here with your new orders."

The Prime fidgeted during the communication lag and the communication specialist had to resist the urge to chuckle at his superior's impatience. The mech clearly didn't have much experience with interstellar comms.

_This is Autobot Cosmos. What are your orders, Prime sir?_

"Autobot Cosmos, this is Optimus Prime." The red and blue mech's tone was confident, but his pronunciation was slow and deliberate. Blaster made a note to practice languages with him, as soon as their schedules permitted. "I was glad to hear that Blaster found a friend out among the stars. What is your current status?"

_Fully functional, sir, and with no enemies in the area._

"That is good to hear." The smile was clear in Optimus' voice. "Your orders are to send any intelligence you may have gathered in a data packet to Autobot Blaster and then to proceed to Earth Base Ark Prime with all possible speed. Once you arrive, you will be debriefed and we will discuss your continued involvement in the Autobot war effort."

_Yes, sir! Once I receive the base's coordinates, I will be on my way. I'm afraid I don't have any intelligence, though. My mission was to find allies, not gather data._

"There is much more to intelligence than gathering specific data." The smile in Optimus' voice was clear, and Blaster found himself a little surprised by the difference between the Prime and his former commander on Cybertron. "Share your star charts and any other stellar details you've logged during your travels. Anything, even a stray radio signal from a pre-space civilization, can be important."

_Yes, Prime. Preparing the data packet now. Are you ready to receive, Blaster?_

"Ready when you are, Cosmos." Blaster grinned. Rewind was going to have a good time analyzing the pure data, and Jazz's Intelligence division would probably find a lot of useful things in there too. 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cosmos studied the coordinates that Blaster had given him, and compared them to the star maps he was currently using. By stellar distances, Earth and Ark Prime base weren't very far away. Given his own personal limitations, however, it wasn't going to be a short trip, even if he didn't run into any of the dangers that lurked out in the stars.

His solar chargers were fully functional, his thrusters recently serviced (as best he could on his own) and his maps as current as the Ark Prime unit could give him. He had a direction and a new team waiting for him at the end of the trip.

_Autobot Cosmos, this is Autobot Blaster. Ready to receive your preferred course and speed whenever you are._

And he had a new friend to help ease the way.

_Blaster, this is Cosmos. Sending course and speed data now. ETA is approximate ten of the your local system's month's._

_Sounds great. See you soon, Cosmos._

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Blaster sat at the comm station, monitoring the data coming in and going out. If anything was going to go wrong with his new repairs, it would probably show up in their connection to the Earth's fledgling world wide network first. It was a tedious task, and he probably could have left it to one of his recordicons* rather than doing it himself, but he wanted to be on top of it if anything went down.

And, if he was honest with himself, he wanted to be on station if Cosmos called in. He'd really gotten to like the mech from Yuss over the last few days.

"Blaster," Eject bounced into the room holding a large brown ball and wearing a huge smile. "Guess what Prime is teaching me!"

"What is Prime teaching you?" The red mech turned his attention away from the connection and focused it on his symbiote. "Some kind of game?"

"Yeah! It's called basketball! Prime says it's his favorite and we've played three games today, with Jazz and Bumblebee and we won every time!" The mechling was vibrating with excitement. "And they said there are lots more games we can learn. Bumblebee says he and Spike will teach me American football and Tracks says he'll teach me _real_ football and Hound says he and Mirage like a game called laser tag and he thinks Rewind and I will be good at it! Isn't it great, Blaster?! The humans have so many games to teach us!"

"It's great my mech." Blaster reached down and rubbed the top of Eject's head. "You'll teach me some of 'em when I have some free time, right?"

"You bet! You'll be great at basketball, cause you're so tall!" The recordicon beamed. "Have you heard from your friend since yesterday? Rewind says he's coming here from pretty far away?"

"Haven't heard a peep out of him today, but he may have stopped for a recharge cycle. Cosmos has been out there for a long time and may not be in the best repair anymore."

"Why doesn't someone take Skyfire out to go get him, then?"

"Sky's a good mech, and he'd probably go if we asked, but his research is more important than going out to pick up an Autobot who can get here under his own power. If Cosmos gets into trouble, then we'll go pick him up."

"Oh. Okay." Eject was thoughtful for a moment. "Can I talk to him when he calls again?"

Blaster smiled. "You bet. I think Cosmos would like that."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cosmos settled into orbit around a small blue star and deployed his solar collectors. He wouldn't be able to withstand the star's radiation for long, not more that two joors in fact, but he needed a short rest and refuel.

Once his collectors were set, he initiated his transformation sequence. He spread his arms wide once he was in his root mode, relishing the way his cables pulled and stretched after being confined for so long. After the tension was eased out of his arms and shoulders, he stretched his legs as well. 

Then, limbs and joints more comfortable, he let himself simply drift for the next joor. When his plating began to feel uncomfortably hot, he reeled his solar collectors back in and transformed back into his alternate mode.

He continued on his way toward Earth, humming a song Eject had taught him during his last check in to the base.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Have ya heard from any of the other exploration teams Cosmos told you were out there?" Jazz asked, plopping down in a seat across from him in the rec room.

Blaster shook his head. "No a peep. I'm beginning to wonder if any of them even survived."

"There's a lotta space out there, my mech. Don't let it get you down." The black and white mech gave him a smile. "We'll find them."

"Wish I had your optimism." The communication specialist sighed and sipped at the energon cube he was holding.

"But then I'd have to find something else besides cheering you up to do in my off time." The saboteur said, smile never leaving his face. "How's Cosmos doing out there? No 'Cons or unfriendlies?"

"He's all right, as of his last check in. My little guys have started talking to him when he calls in, and I think that's doing a lot of good for all of them. Cosmos is a lonely mech."

"Well, after he gets here, he's going to have to beat back new friends with a stick." Jazz's smile turned into an amused grin. "You've already seen how Bumblebee gets with the new guys."

"Hope it doesn't make him run right back out there. It's gonna be hard enough for the mech to adapt to life on an active base again."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He'd been traveling for seven of Earth's months when he started hearing new voices. They were speaking Cybertronian, but it was a dialect that he didn't recognize--which made sense because a lot of things would have changed over the vorns he had been in space. Really, it was more surprising that Blaster and Optimus Prime could speak _his_ language than the other way around.

But the new voices were also using a communication code that was completely different from any of the Autobot codes Blaster had given him, and that did seem odd when he was so far away from any of the known Decepticon outposts or bases.

He paused his trip for a few kliks and activated his recording equipment. Optimus Prime had wanted intelligence, and Cosmos was going to bring back everything he could.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Mech, does Soundwave know you managed to grab these files out from under his nose?" The files Cosmos had transferred had almost all of Jazz's attention, with the black and white mech devoting very few processing threads to speaking with the space faring mech.

 _I don't know._ Cosmos replied. _I didn't even know what I was receiving until you told me. Should I keep recording?_

Jazz shook his head and focused on the information on the data pads in front of him. 

"Jazz says no," Blaster told the other mech. "Better to back off if he does know you're there, and to not give yourself away if he doesn't. Soundwave's not a mech you want to mess with unless you've got a lot of backup or some really good processor shielding."

 _Okay._ Despite how serious the situation was, the corners of Blaster's mouth turned up at the bit of slang Cosmos had picked up from Eject and Rewind. _Should I change my course? It will add a few Earth days to my trip, but that's better than the Decepticons finding me, right?_

"Put him on the system entry vector Skyfire used last week," Jazz replied absently. "And if you could send a comm to Mirage for me, I have a job for him."

"Sure thing." Blaster queued up a second comm line while he replied to Cosmos. "Cosmos, we want you to adjust your course so that you come into Earth's solar system on these coordinates..."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Cosmos still didn't quite know how he felt, even almost a full Earth month later, about having intercepted a transmission from _the_ Soundwave. He had expected a random misplaced transmission or a routine status report, not something that was actually important. 

It was a little thrilling, but in a terrifying way.

Blaster and Jazz didn't think that Soundwave would come after him, but Cosmos wasn't so sure. He was nobody important, sure, but he had heard a _lot_ of stories about how ruthless Megatron's most loyal follower could be if he felt wronged by somemech. The explorer had no desire to end up as another of them.

He made an unhappy noise at himself that vibrated his plating slightly. He didn't like getting caught up in negative thoughts about the Decepticons catching him. They hadn't caught him in tens of thousands of vorns, and they weren't' likely to catch him now.

Rather than letting himself dwell, he opened up a comm channel to Earth. Someone would be on duty in the comm room and would be able to talk for a little while.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_Onslaught._

The Combaticon commander looked up from his mission plan. "What is it, Blast Off?"

The space faring mech flashed a coordinate grid with a single blinking beacon on it. The beacon blinked Autobot blue. _A lone enemy mech. I do not believe he has seen us. Yet._

"Make sure he doesn't. We cannot allow this mission to be compromised."

 _Acknowledged._ The huge mech's cannons hummed as they were brought online and turned toward the Autobot.

Blast Off fired twice, and the blue indicator light went out.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_And then there was--_

Blaster frowned as Cosmos' communication cut off with a burst of static. There hadn't been any interference on the channel since they had started using it. He opened the line back up at the same time he began running a diagnostic on the equipment. "Cosmos? You there, buddy?"

 _Blaster..._ The weak voice that answered him made Blaster's energon pump stop.

"Cosmos, status!"

 _I'm... It's bad, Blaster. I don't know where they came from or who they were._ The explorer's voice was laced with static. _I'm dead in space. Sorry._

"Don't apologize, mech. Not like you planned this." Blaster's fingers flew over his console, canceling the diagnostic and sending messages to Prime and Skyfire. "Just hang on for me. We're on our way to get you."

 _Don't endanger anyone else._ Cosmos sounded defeated. _Just tell Eject that I'm sorry he didn't get to teach me to play football._

"You're still going to get to learn." He sent a third message to Rewind so that the recordicon could come and take Blaster's place at the comm station. "Prime just sent us permission to come rescue you. Just hang on."

_I'll do my best._

Cosmos fell silent. Rather than waste energy trying to rouse him, the communication specialist sent messages to the rescue team Jazz had helped him pick out just in case.

They were _not_ going to leave a fellow Autobot out there to die, cold and alone in space.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He was cold and tired and he just wanted to be left alone.

_You have to wake up._

He didn't want to. He wanted to recharge forever. He was so tired, and everything hurt.

_You have to wake up._

He didn't **want** to. Why didn't the voice understand that?

_You have to wake up. You've recharged long enough._

**_No. It hurts._** He wasn't going to wake up until he was ready.

 _Back off, Ratchet. Let me try._ The new voice was gentler, more friendly. He thought he recognized it, but that wouldn't be enough. He still needed more recharge.

**_Go away. I'm tired and I hurt._ **

_I know, buddy, but we need you to wake up for a little while. Ratchet has to do some tests when your processor is fully functional, so we know if the repairs took. You can recharge again after he's done._

**_You promise?_ **

_I promise. Now come on, wake up. The doc is getting impatient._

Slowly, his optic shutters opened and he stared up at a bright orange ceiling. After a moment, a mech with a red helm and a bright white chevron leaned in to look him in the face. "About time you woke up!"

"Take it easy, Ratchet." A second mech--with a very familiar voice!--reached out and pulled the red and white mesh back a little. "How you feeling, buddy?"

"Blaster?" Cosmos blinked his optic shutters and tried to sit up. The medic pushed him back down. "I'm alive?"

"No thanks to the Decepticons," the red and white mech, Ratchet, replied.

"You're alive." Blaster nudged Ratchet further back and leaned forward to smile at the smaller mech. Cosmos studied his face--grey with a white and red helmet and very friendly--as the other mech spoke. "Seems you had a run in with the Combaticons. We met Blast Off on our way out to rescue you, and Skyfire and the Aerialbots sent them packing. We picked you up not long after, and Ratchet's been working on you since."

"And I'm still not done." Ratchet cycled air through his intake in a way that Cosmos thought sounded unhappy. "I have some tests I needed you online for, though. Is it all right if I get started?"

"Can Blaster stay?" He knew the request sounded silly, but Blaster was the closest thing he had to a real friend right now.

"A better question would be 'can Blaster leave and let me work' because he's been here underfoot the whole time you have been."

"You have?" The green mech was mystified.

The tall red mech's smile turned embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I have. I've been pretty worried about you."

"Oh!" Cosmos looked up at the other mech and smiled shyly. "Thank you."

"Any time, my mech. Anytime."

"You can start the tests then." The green mech reached a hand out and was rewarded with his friend grabbing it and holding it tightly as Ratchet plugged a data cable into his processor's access port.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Blaster?" Cosmos sat down next to the other mech hesitantly.

"Yeah, Cosmos?" Absently, Blaster offered the smaller mech one of the energon treats he was eating to the other mech as he scrolled through the comm logs.

"Um, thank you for coming after me, even though I told you not to. I'm really glad you did."

The communication specialist looked up at the green mech and smiled. "I'd do it again, too. Just, try not to make me have to."

"I'll do my best." Cosmos smiled and reached an arm around the larger mech.

Blaster hugged him back tightly.


End file.
